And the Emmy winners are...? We’re happy to guess!

Published: Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014 5:30 a.m. CDT

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(AP photo)

This image released by HBO shows Matthew McConaughey (left) and Woody Harrelson from the HBO series "True Detective." Both Harrelson and McConaughey were nominated for Emmy Awards for best actor in a drama series for their roles in the series. The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Monday at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Allow us to explain. There was so much great TV last season that standout prime-time shows including “The Good Wife” and “Scandal” and stars Michael Sheen (“Masters of Sex”) and James Spader (“The Blacklist”) didn’t even make the cut as nominees.

Those who did are, for the most part, richly deserving. But now how to choose among them?

Then there’s this year’s notable trend of shape-shifting, with programs squeezed into categories that could give them better odds of winning – even if the fit might raise viewers’ eyebrows.

Cases in point: Netflix’s prison-set “Orange Is the New Black,” which despite its dark content is vying with the likes of “Modern Family” for comedy laurels, and HBO’s “True Detective,” which looks all the world like a miniseries yet is gunning for “Mad Men” and other open-ended dramas.

Thanks, TV academy, for keeping us all guessing!

Even so, this pair of TV devotees are game to try to read the minds of Emmy voters and, in a bit of bravado, offer up our choices for the best of the best.

Here are the contenders and our own sometimes clashing, sometimes matching picks for seven major categories:

DRAMA SERIES

LYNN ELBER

Should win: “Game of Thrones.” An epic series from epic novels. Drop the anti-fantasy bias, Emmy.

Will win: “True Detective.” Such a brilliant miniseries. But we quibble, and voters won’t.

FRAZIER MOORE

Should win: “True Detective.” Grim, gritty, wickedly addictive.

Will win: “True Detective.” How could Emmy snub this true masterpiece?

COMEDY SERIES

ELBER

Should win: “Louie.” Honesty is the best policy – and so brutally funny.

Will win: “Modern Family.” It’s big-hearted and on broadcast TV. Old school wins one.

MOORE

Should win: “Louie.” Emmy needs to kick the “Modern Family” habit.

Will win: “Veep.” Emmy will kick the habit – by rewarding the wrong show.